Margaret of Parma

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Detail from a portrait of Margaret of Parma by Antonio Moro
Signature Margarethe von Parma.PNG
Stained glass window in the Sint Janskerk in Gouda

Margarethe von Parma (born July 5, 1522 in Oudenaarde , † January 18, 1586 in Ortona ) was an illegitimate daughter of Emperor Charles V. She was married to two Italian aristocrats, first in 1536 to the Duke of Florence, Alessandro de 'Medici . After his early murder, she married Ottavio Farnese for the second time in 1538 . Her half-brother, the Spanish King Philip II , appointed her in 1559 as governor of the Habsburg Netherlands . She held this office until 1567. During this period of office, the first uprisings against the Habsburg rule began. For a short time Margarethe took over the reign of the Netherlands together with her son Alessandro Farnese again in 1580 , but finally withdrew to Italy in 1583 and died in 1586 at the age of 63.

Descent and youth

When Emperor Charles V was visiting the castle of Charles I de Lalaing, Baron von Montigny, in Oudenaarde in autumn 1521, he met a young Flemish maid of the baroness, Johanna van der Gheynst , and began a brief love affair with her. From this affair came Margarethe of Parma, who was named after the emperor's aunt, Margaret of Austria . This exercised the governorship of the Netherlands at that time. Margarethe von Parma was first brought up by the de Douvrin family in Brussels. Soon she was living at the court of her great-aunt Margarethe of Austria in Mechelen , from 1531 at the Brussels court of her aunt Maria , the Hungarian queen widow and successor to the elder Margarethe as the Dutch governor. Following the example of her aunt Maria, Margarethe von Parma became an excellent rider and hunter. She also received an excellent education worthy of a princess. In contrast to several other illegitimate children, Charles V officially recognized Margarethe as a “natural” daughter in July 1529.

Marriage to Alessandro de 'Medici

Alessandro de 'medici by Jacopo Pontormo

Charles V was planning Margaret's marriage to an Italian nobleman when she was a small child. It is possible that as early as 1526 he promised to give his illegitimate daughter Ercole II d'Este as wife. After the reconciliation between the Emperor and Pope Clement VII in the Peace of Barcelona (1529), it was decided that Margaret would marry Alessandro de 'Medici , an illegitimate alleged nephew, but actually the illegitimate son of the Pope. At the request of Clement VII, Charles V's troops conquered Florence in 1530 , where the rule of the Medici family had since been re- established. Initially, Alessandro de 'Medici became duke of the city. For the Florentines, the sexually dissolute “nephew” of the Pope was an extremely unloved prince. In 1533 Margarethe was sent to Italy by her father. She first lived in the Neapolitan district of Pizzofalcone, where she was supposed to learn the customs of an Italian wife. Her wedding took place in Naples on February 29, 1536, in which Charles V personally attended. However, almost a year later, on January 6, 1537, Alessandro de 'Medici was murdered by his distant relative and companion Lorenzino , whereupon Margarethe withdrew to the Fortezza da Basso in Florence.

Lorenzino's cousin Cosimo I de 'Medici became the new Duke of Florence, ensured stable political conditions and defeated an army of exiled, republican-minded opposition members on August 1, 1537 at the Battle of Montemurlo . He wanted to marry the young widow of the murdered Alessandro, but the emperor refused him the hand of his "natural" daughter, with whom he had other political plans.

Marriage to Ottavio Farnese

Ottavio Farnese by Titian

Since November 1537 Margarethe lived under the supervision of Lope Hurtado de Mendoza, who was sent by the emperor as court marshal, and his wife Margarita de Rojas. Due to a rapprochement between Charles V and Pope Paul III. In the summer of 1538 it was agreed to forge family ties by marrying 15-year-old Margarethe and 14-year-old Ottavio Farnese . The latter was the son of Pier Luigi , an illegitimate son of Paul III. After the marriage contract had been signed (October 12, 1538), the young couple's wedding was celebrated in Rome on November 4, 1538 . But the marriage was also unhappy. Margarethe found Ottavio not very sympathetic; she complained that she did not want a boy for a husband, although she was hardly older. At first she refused to share the bed with him. Only after pressure from the emperor, to whom the Pope had complained, did Margarethe take up a normal married life. Not only her tense relationship with Ottavio, but also the political disputes between the emperor and the pope weighed heavily on the marriage. After 1540, Margaret's relationship with her husband seemed to improve. In 1545 she became the mother of twin sons, one of whom died early. The second son, Alessandro , was later able to prove himself as the general of the Spanish King Philip II.

Soon after the birth of the twins, new disputes split Margarethe from her husband and his family. Without paying attention to Charles V's consent, the Pope enfeoffed his son Pier Luigi Farnese in 1545 with the cities of Parma and Piacenza, constituted as duchies . After Pier Luigi's murder in 1547, she wanted to take possession of his son Ottavio and got into a dispute with his father-in-law Karl V. To defend his legacy, Ottavio even concluded an alliance directed against the emperor in 1551 with the French King Henry II. The tensions were finally resolved only in 1556/57 when Ottavio was recognized as lord of Parma, Piacenza and Novara by King Philip II of Spain. Ottavio's good behavior towards the Habsburg was to be ensured by the relocation of his son Alessandro to the Spanish court. In the spring of 1557 Margarethe visited her half-brother Philip II in London , brought Alessandro to him and returned to Italy in April 1557. When, at the beginning of 1558, she wished to see her father again, who had abdicated and retired to the monastery of San Juste in Spain, Charles V refused. Soon afterwards he passed away.

Governor of the Netherlands

After Philip II had made the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis with Henry II of France on April 3, 1559 , he wanted to quickly leave the Netherlands, which consisted of 17 semi-autonomous provinces, where he had resided since 1555, and return to Spain. Since Duke Emanuel Philibert of Savoy had abdicated as governor of the Habsburg Netherlands , the Spanish king was looking for a successor. Christina , the widowed Duchess of Lorraine, was very interested in this office and was favored by many Flemish nobles. Wilhelm von Nassau, Prince of Orange (Orange) , hoped for Christina's appointment as the new governor, as he soon intended to become her son-in-law. But Philip II thwarted the marriage plan of the young man, who was too ambitious for him, and appointed Margaret of Parma as Emanuel-Philibert's successor. By choosing his half-sister, the king had followed the recommendation of his counselor Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle , Bishop of Arras, and the Duke of Alba . Margarethe, who was now able to separate from her unloved second husband, left Italy on June 25, 1559, arrived in Ghent on July 28, and was presented to the States General by Philip II on August 7. Soon afterwards he left the Netherlands by sea and granted the governor an annual salary of 70,000 guilders, with which she had to pay for the cost of keeping court.

Difficult years in government

Margaret of Parma, coat of arms

Margarethe, who resided in Brussels, had a difficult task to fulfill, as she was supposed to carry out the political, religious and fiscal measures prescribed by Philip II, but these demands from Madrid often met with the rejection of the Dutch nobility, with whose resistance Margarethe faced therefore looked faced. In addition, their scope for independent government policy was very limited. Outwardly she had great powers, but through secret instructions from Philip II she was dependent on the cooperation with Granvelle, who played a key role in shaping government affairs. The bishop was also the main person in a three-man college, which also included the President of the Finance Council, Count Charles de Berlaymont , and the chairman of the Privy Council, the Frisian lawyer Viglius van Aytta van Zwichem . The governor was also dependent on the decisions of this body, which its opponents contemptuously dubbed Consulta or Achterraad . In addition, the Spanish king reserved the right to appoint important officials. In addition to the Privy Council and the Finance Council, the third important government body advising the governor was the Council of State, which was ruled by the Dutch nobility.

Granvelle advocated a centralized system of rule and undermined Margarethe's policy of reconciliation with his strict attitude. According to the ideas of the Spanish king, the Dutch estates, especially the nobility, should have as little influence as possible on the government. The nobles, however, did not want to subordinate themselves to the three-man college ruled by Granvelle and tried to defend and expand their political scope for participation. For example, they insisted on their right to control the militia and jurisdiction in the provinces. Shortly before Philip II's departure, the States General threatened not to pay any more subsidies if the Habsburg insisted on the further stationing of 3,000 Spanish soldiers in the Netherlands, who were apparently supposed to enforce the royal will by force if necessary. Despite Philip's relenting, the troops were not withdrawn until the end of 1560.

In the Netherlands, among other things, due to the high tax burden to finance the wars of Charles V and Philip II against France, the financial situation was tense, which persisted even after the victory of Philip II (1559). Furthermore, there were major economic problems since the end of the 1550s, for example due to a trade war with England, as well as food shortages, because since 1563 grain deliveries from the Baltic Sea area had been temporarily absent due to warlike events there. These crises, for which the people blamed the Habsburg government in Brussels, contributed to the fact that the sermons of Calvinists who had arrived were very popular.

In the ecclesiastical sector, however, one of Margaret's important tasks as governor was to maintain the position of Catholicism as the only recognized religion and to prevent the spread of Protestantism as far as possible. Margarethe herself was a moderate Catholic. In her youth she had had Ignatius of Loyola as her confessor. Every year she washed the poor people's feet and gave them food and presents.

The decision of the Spanish king, sanctioned by the Pope in 1560, to increase the number of Dutch bishoprics from four to 18, met with determined resistance from the local nobility and clergy. Philip II wanted to appoint the additional bishops and gain more influence through the enlarged church, since the new prelates had seats in the state parliaments and states general. In terms of church politics, the Netherlands were no longer subordinate to the Archbishops of Cologne, Trier and Reims, but were divided into three new church provinces with seats in Utrecht , Cambrai and Mechelen. Granvelle took over the role of primate as the new Archbishop of Mechelen and became cardinal in 1561. Not only was the diocese reform unpopular, the Dutch also disapproved of the tough laws on persecuting heretics and the planned expansion of the Inquisition .

In 1562 Philip II asked for Dutch troops to be sent to support the French government's struggle against the Huguenots , but Margarethe hesitated, as she would have to reckon with a rebellion once this demand was met. In a consultation that she conducted with representatives of the nobility, instead of military aid, it was decided to provide financial aid to the French monarchy.

Cardinal Granvelle was becoming more and more hated. The aristocratic opposition , led by William of Orange, Philippe de Montmorency, Count of Hoorne , and Lamoral Count of Egmond , saw itself set back and sidelined by the significant political influence of the cardinal. Increasingly, he and not the governor Margarethe was seen as the actual supreme representative of the unpopular Spanish politics.

At the beginning of 1563 representatives of the Dutch nobility finally demanded Granvelle's recall and, when Philip II refused to comply with this demand, they no longer took part in any meetings of the Council of State. They wanted to continue this boycott until the cardinal was removed. Margarethe, who in any case did not have good relations with her first minister, feared that her government would be paralyzed. In a letter to Philip II, she now also advocated Granvelle's departure. At the end of 1563, the Spanish king followed this view and the cardinal left the Netherlands in March 1564, but continued to enjoy royal favor.

Beginning of the uprising

Alessandro Farnese visited his mother in 1565 and lived in the Brussels Palace from April 30 of that year . The governor had the sumptuous wedding of her son and Maria , the granddaughter of King Manuel I of Portugal , celebrated on November 11, 1565 , and the associated festivities cost a lot.

Despite their success in recalling Granvelle, the Dutch aristocratic opposition stuck to their opposing stance and demanded further concessions. After all, Margarethe cooperated quite well with the leading nobles again. The governor urged her royal half-brother several times to make a personal appearance in the Netherlands. The hard winter of 1564/65, combined with a bad harvest and the worsening economic crisis, encouraged the influx of disgruntled citizens to Calvinist sermons. This drew a large number of heresy convictions . Following protests, the government ordered the death penalty no longer to be imposed. In February 1565, Count Egmond traveled to Spain on behalf of the State Council and negotiated there with Ruy Gómez, the representative of Philip II. He demanded a softening of the laws against heretics as well as an upgrading of the state council, which is dominated by the nobility and which is placed above the secret and finance council should. After the talks, Egmond believed that the Spanish king would make concessions.

After Count Egmond had taken this view after his return to Brussels in April 1565, other signals came from Spain, such as the order for further executions, and in the Netherlands there was for a long time uncertainty about the intentions of Philip II. At the beginning of August a number of nobles met like Count Heinrich von Brederode in Spa to discuss the further procedure. At the end of October, the king insisted in a few letters he signed on his estate in the Segovia forest that the Inquisition should be extended and that the penalties against heretics should be maintained, and the required strengthening of the Council of State's influence was delayed. Philip II's answer, which became known in Brussels on November 5, 1565, caused great anger.

Around 400 less prominent nobles adhering to the Calvinist faith signed the so-called “noble compromise” in December 1565 (instead of this usual term, “noble alliance” would be a more appropriate translation of the French expression Compromis des Nobles ). It called for the abolition of the Inquisition and the penalties for heresy. The high nobility, many of whom were members of the Council of State, did not join the confederation, which the Brussels government dubbed “Confederate”, but had good contacts with it. 300 armed "Confederates", led and armed by Heinrich von Brederode and Ludwig von Nassau , brother of William of Orange, presented the excited governor with a petition on April 5, 1566 in her Brussels residence, in which she, among other things, requested the suspension of persecution of heretics and convocation asked the States General to work out better legislation on religious conflicts. When Margarethe subsequently met members of the Council of State for a consultation, Charles de Berlaymont allegedly remarked in order to reassure the governor that the petitioners were only beggars (French "gueux"), referring to the relative Applicant related poverty. The rebellious nobles promptly adopted this disqualifying designation and from then on called themselves Geuzen at Brederode's suggestion .

The governor, who was cornered, promised after the suggestion of moderate nobles that she would work to ensure that the Spanish king complied with the requests formulated in the petition. Soon afterwards, in order to defuse the situation, she made religious-political concessions in a so-called “moderation” and issued an order to the authorities to proceed more leniently against heretics; but this was not enough for many Protestants. The two Councilors of State John IV of Glymes , Marquis of Bergen, and Floris de Montmorency , Count of Montigny, were sent to Philip II to explain the situation to him and to persuade him to take a more indulgent attitude towards the Protestants. Meanwhile the Geuzen promised to keep calm.

Soon, however, the open revolt of the Dutch provinces against Spanish rule began. Many exiled Protestants returned and there were more and more crowded “ hedge sermons ”, so called because they were often held outside of cities to make it difficult for local authorities to intervene. The Inquisition and the Church of Rome were denounced. Social and economic problems as well as bad harvests also promoted an inflammatory mood. In August 1566, a violent iconoclasm by radical Calvinists spread to Catholic churches and monasteries throughout the Netherlands in just a few days. The Calvinists broke into churches, destroyed statues of saints and stole ornaments. They also blew up processions on the Assumption of Mary . The city authorities were initially unable and often unwilling to put a stop to these vandalous acts.

The iconoclasm had broken out before news reached the Netherlands that Philip II had shown a willingness to compromise on the religious issues and had empowered Margarethe to lower the penalties against heretics at her discretion. At the same time, however, he had sworn testimony that he had only acted like this under pressure; Furthermore, he had asked Pope Pius V's forgiveness for his concessions and promised to fight the heresy in the Dutch provinces militarily if necessary.

Margarethe came under great pressure from the worsening situation in the wake of the iconoclasm. At first she thought of fleeing Brussels, but the city authorities refused to remove her luggage, which she protested strongly. She reluctantly made further concessions to the Protestants. If public order was not disrupted, public Protestant sermons were allowed to be held in those places where they had taken place earlier. The conditions in France served as a model.

The situation slowly calmed down. The riots had increasingly cost the Protestants sympathy and Margarethe tried to withdraw her religious-political concessions and to restore order militarily. She wanted to investigate the troublemakers of the summer of 1566 and bring them to justice, and she also tried to ensure that Catholicism remained the only recognized religion. Foreign Protestant preachers were expelled.

Philip II, who had reacted extremely angrily to the news of the unrest, initially sent his half-sister money to pay her soldiers outstanding wages and to recruit additional troops. The cities of Valenciennes and Tournai , which were particularly disobedient to the orders of the Brussels government, refused to accept garrisons at the end of November 1566. The Protestant insurgents could not long maintain the military resistance and were soon defeated. Numerous high-ranking nobles such as Count Egmond sided with the governor and helped her to suppress the rebellion. Brederode's troops could not relieve the besieged Valenciennes and suffered a complete defeat in mid-March 1567 off Antwerp . Valenciennes had to surrender, and so did Antwerp at the end of April. In May 1567 the revolt was finally put down. Many members of the opposition, such as William of Orange, had left the Netherlands.

Resignation after the posting of Duke Albas

Philip II had announced that he would soon travel to the Netherlands to personally calm the situation there. However, when he learned of the death of Sultan Suleyman I († September 6, 1566), who significantly reduced the threat from the Ottoman Empire for the near future, he postponed his trip. Before that, Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba , was to go to the Netherlands with 15,000 soldiers, mainly of Spanish origin and extensive powers, to break any resistance with military means and to set up a special court for the rebels. The king ignored reports that many high nobles helped the governor to bring the situation back under control.

Margarethe was against Alba's posting from the beginning, felt that Philip II no longer trusted her, and submitted her resignation. In a letter dated July 14, 1567, she wrote to the Spanish king that he could not have made a worse choice than that of the Duke, who is known for his iron hardness, and that this would hate all Spaniards in the Netherlands. Meanwhile, Alba and his army left in mid-June. He traveled through Savoy , Burgundy and Lorraine and appeared in Brussels on August 22nd, where he was received very coolly by Margarethe. The Duke treated her with polite coldness and did not allow her to influence his decisions. For example, he refused her request not to quarter his soldiers in those cities that had been loyal to the government during the uprising. Margarethe therefore only led the office of governor as a mere title and asked Philip II again for her dismissal. Her secretary Macchiavelli traveled to Spain at the beginning of September to expressly demand this. The king complied with her request with polite words, praised her government and increased the pension allocated to her from the Kingdom of Naples to 14,000 ducats. The governor thanked the king, warned him to be lenient towards the Dutch and left Brussels on December 30, 1567 for Italy. Her departure was generally regretted in the Netherlands and her term of office was viewed very positively by her contemporaries in comparison with the military regiment of Albas.

Later life and death

Margarethe arrived in Piacenza in February 1568 and later lived in L'Aquila in Abruzzo . Duke Alba and his successors were unable to suppress the uprising that soon flared up again in the Netherlands. After the Don Juan de Austria , appointed by Philip II as the Dutch governor, had fallen out with the States General after the occupation of the Namur Citadel (end of July 1577), the Spanish king made his half-sister Margarethe on the advice of Cardinal Granvelles in September 1577 Proposal to take over the office of governor of the troubled provinces again. She should lead the government again together with Granvelle. But both the cardinal and Margarethe rejected this plan.

Alessandro Farnese, portrait of a youth

When Don Juan de Austria died on October 1, 1578 near Namur, his successor was initially Margarethes militarily gifted son Alessandro Farnese. In October 1579, the Spanish king Margarethe again submitted the offer to become Dutch governor. This time Margarethe accepted her half-brother's invitation. She received the same powers as in 1559, arrived in Luxembourg on June 23, 1580 and from there went to Namur on July 26. De jure she was governor again and her son was only in military command, but Alessandro Farnese refused to accept this power-sharing and practically kept political power in his hands. Under these circumstances, Margarethe stayed in Namur without taking up office. She insisted on the king's permission to return to Italy; the cold and wet climate in the Netherlands is affecting their health, which is not good anyway. But Philip II continued to insist on a joint government of mother and son and only granted Margaret's request on July 25, 1583.

On September 14, 1583, Margarethe made her way back to Italy, then lived again on her property near L'Aquila and died on January 18, 1586 in Ortona. She was buried in the mausoleum in the Church of S. Sisto in Piacenza. Her husband Ottavio Farnese followed her into death on September 18, 1586. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe immortalized her as Margarethe von Parma in his drama Egmont (1788). Friedrich Schiller judged them not very favorably in his history of the secession of the United Netherlands .

Surname

Margarethe was commonly referred to as Madama d'Austria in Italy . The Palazzo Madama and the Villa Madama in Rome and the town of Castel Madama near Tivoli are named after her.

swell

  • Baron de Reiffenberg (Ed.): Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche Duchesse de Parme avec Philippe II (Brussels 1842)
  • LP Gachard (Ed.): Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche Duchesse de Parme avec Philippe II , 3 vols. (Brussels 1867–1881)
  • Poullet and Piot (eds.): Correspondance du cardinal de Granvelle , 11 vols. (Brussels 1877-1894)
  • L. Donofrio, Il carteggio intimo di Margarita d'Austria (Naples 1919)
  • Correspondance française de Marguerite d'Autriche, Duchesse de Parme, avec Philippe II . 3 vols. (Utrecht 1925–1942)
  • Illustration by Frans Hogenberg from 1604: Margareta Austriaca, Parmae ​​Et Placentiae Ducissa ... Anno MDCIIII ( digitized version )

literature

Web links

Commons : Margaret of Parma  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Pamele, now part of Oudenaarde, is an alternative place of birth.
  2. ^ Alfred Kohler : Karl V. , CH Beck, 2nd edition Munich 2000, p. 85; Ursula Tamussino, Maria von Ungarn , 1998, p. 184.
  3. ^ Alfred Kohler: Karl V. , p. 85.
  4. James Cleugh, The Medici , German 1997, pp. 341-345.
  5. ^ Alfred Kohler: NDB, Volume 16 (1990), p. 161; Wilhelm Maurenbrecher , ADB, Volume 20 (1884), p. 325.
  6. Peter Pierson: Philipp II. , Engl. London 1975, German 1985, pp. 173f.
  7. Peter Pierson: Philipp II. , German 1985, p. 174f.
  8. ^ Michael Erbe: Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg. History of the Netherlands , 1993, p. 96f.
  9. ^ Michael Erbe: Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg. History of the Netherlands , 1993, p. 98; Peter Pierson: Philipp II. , German 1985, p. 175f.
  10. ^ Michael Erbe: Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg. History of the Netherlands , 1993, p. 98f .; Peter Pierson: Philipp II. , German 1985, p. 177.
  11. ^ Michael Erbe: Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg. History of the Netherlands , 1993, p. 99f .; Peter Pierson: Philipp II. , German 1985, p. 177f.
  12. ^ Michael Erbe: Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg. History of the Netherlands , 1993, p. 100f .; Peter Pierson: Philipp II. , German 1985, p. 178f.
  13. ^ Michael Erbe: Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg. History of the Netherlands , 1993, p. 101; Peter Pierson: Philipp II. , German 1985, p. 179f.
  14. Margarete von Parma , in: Brigitte Hamann (Ed.), Die Habsburger . 1988, p. 276.
  15. ^ Michael Erbe: Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg. History of the Netherlands , 1993, p. 102.
  16. ^ Wilhelm Maurenbrecher, ADB, Volume 20 (1884), p. 327; Peter Pierson: Philipp II. , German 1985, p. 180f.
  17. Margarete von Parma , in: Brigitte Hamann (Ed.), Die Habsburger . 1988, p. 277.
predecessor Office successor
Emanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands
1559–1567
Fernando Álvarez, Duke of Alba